Gabby Douglas once thought about leaving gymnastics to work at Chick-fil-A

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If there was an event for "Best Fried-Chicken Sandwich" at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Chick-fil-A would most likely be chosen to represent Team USA. And while it's hard deny that the chain's crispy chicken cutlets are gold medal-worthy (abhorrent views on LGBT rights notwithstanding), few would actually trade in a chance to stand atop the real Olympic podium in Rio for the opportunity to sling waffle fries and biscuits in the US.

Still, the life of an athlete can be incredibly demanding, and several years ago gold medalist and "Final Five" member Gabby Douglas fantasized about giving up her life as a gymnast to pursue a career in the fast-casual dining industry.

"Gymnastics is not my passion anymore," Douglas wrote in her 2012 memoir, Grace, Gold & Glory, quoting a text she once sent to her mother. "I can get a job at Chick-Fil-A in Virginia Beach and live off the 14 grand I just won at World Championships. I just want to be a normal teenage kid."

While Douglas' $14,000 rainy day fund doesn't exactly put her in the same income bracket as most teenage Chick-Fil-A workers (she was just 16 when she wrote her New York Times bestselling book...), there are of course drawbacks to competing on the world's stage. Earlier this week, after completing the final routine of her Olympic career, Douglas was "devastated" by an onslaught of hateful, racially-charged criticism online, with journalists and social media trolls attacking the gymnast's demeanor while standing on the podium.

"I tried to stay off the internet because there's just so much negativity," Douglas told ESPN. "Either it was about my hair or my hand not over my heart [on the medal podium] or I look depressed."

"It was hurtful," she added. "It was. It's been kind of a lot to deal with."

Sure, life might have been a little easier working the counter at Chick-fil-A, but then we wouldn't have been able to watch Douglas do this.